A movie I consider “wild” is Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa. This movie was made in 2008 and was directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath. The movie features Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, and more! The movie is about zoo animals that were accidentally transported to Madagascar at the end of the first movie and the movie focuses on how they try to escape from Madagascar and end up in Africa. Some themes in this movie are adventures, friendship, and the wild! I think this movie is “wild” because it involves putting animals that were in the zoo and part of human society into the wild where they are from! The movie focuses a lot on the differences between wild and zoo animals and how the zoo animals eventually start accepting their inner animal in their natural habitat.
A scene from this movie that shows the wilderness is when one of the zoo animals, the lion named “Alex” finds his lion tribe and family in Africa. According to the lineage of the tribe, he ends up being the next successor or leader of the trial and has to fight the other competitor for the spot to become the leader of the lion tribe. Whoever dominates over the other is chosen as the new leader for the trial. Alex has never fought another lion in his life because he is a zoo animal, so he is very taken aback and confused by the ritual. This ritual is usually a way wild animals assert their dominance over one another especially in territorial and leadership disputes. This specific scene emphasizes the wildness of the film because this event is very new and different for a zoo animal that doesn’t understand wild and undomesticated ways. The struggle that Alex faces with this tough battle emphasizes the dichotomy between animals in captivity and animals in nature and how there are different customs in the wild.
Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLVjIhPYq7s
This is a great example of a wild film as I feel that it portrays wildness in multiple different ways. Firstly, it is wild that a bunch of talking zoo animals are suddenly forced to survive Madagascar and find a way off the island. Secondly, the film is literally taking place in the wilderness, which can be thought of as the physical embodiment of “wild.” It reminds me of how “Into the Wild” came to be known as a “wild” film, as both movies had themes of wilderness survival in them.
I like how you tried to convey the wildness in the movie using the scene but I don’t agree with you commenting on how the zoo animals accept their wild side. It may be the sriptwriters fault and not yours but the zoo animals never truly accept their wild side. This is evident in the next movie in the Madagascar series where the zoo animals try to leave Africa on a plane to see the world. That is something a human is expected and isnt truly wild. Other than that, great summary!
I like how you approached this prompt from a more literal definition of the word ‘wild’. By showing the struggles and successes that the zoo animals experienced while being assimilated into the wild, this movie contrasts the differences and compares the similarities between wild animals and animals held in captivity.